The present invention relates to solar panel, particularly suitable for the facades of buildings, which may, itself, be part of the said facades and is adapted to heat, to a pre-established temperature, the ambient air of the inner rooms of the buildings.
As is known, for the heating of inner rooms of buildings by means of the solar energy also solar panels of the air-to-air type are used, which are provided with a pair of perforations for the inlet and the outlet of the air utilized in the circuit into which the said solar panels are inserted. Normally, such perforations are coupled with corresponding perforations formed in two channels which, respectively, draw the air at high temperatures (utilization temperatures) and introduce the air at the low temperatures which the air has after having been used.
The said channels are provided with a plurality of perforations adapted to be coupled with corresponding perforations of successive solar panels, thus providing a connection in parallel between the panels by means of the said channels.
For the utilization of the solar panels of the type specified hereinabove a support structure is required for the installation of both the panels and the remaining parts of the plant.
The plants which operate by means of the said panels have some disadvantages.
First of all, the complexity of the plant implies considerable difficulties and a not negligible time for the installation; accordingly, the cost percentage for the installation of the plant is considerable with respect to the total cost of the plant. Furthermore, usually, the facade of the building on which the plant is to be installed must be transformed and reinforced to obtain the support structure which supports the various solar panels and the connection channels of the plant.
In addition, when applying the modalities of connection described hereinabove not all the available space is utilized, because, in view of eventual substitution of parts and maintenance operations it is necessary for adjacent panels to be suitably spaced from each other in order to permit separating each panel from the channels without having to act on the adjacent panels. Thus, the sum of the areas of the surfaces which pick up the solar energy is considerably smaller than the area available for the solar radiation on the facade of the building. It follows that a high number of solar panels and a large area available on the facade (the desired temperature in the inner rooms of the building being equal) are required, or a lower temperature (and hence a lower thermal efficiency) is obtained, owing to the smaller number of solar panels which may be disposed on the facade of the building. Furthermore, as will be explained later, the presence of channels outside the solar panels gives rise to a higher dispersion of heat because of the larger contact area between the plant and the surrounding air, and therefore, to obviate this disadvantage it is necessary to provide a more efficient heat insulation.